“Caleb, come on bubba, talk to me.” Pa is frantically talking and patting Caleb’s face.

Caleb grabs his dad’s shoulder and realizes he is lying on the kitchen floor. “I’m alright, Pa.” He shakes his head like he had been kicked by an angry mule.

“Well, did it work?” Pa helps his son off the ground and into one of the worn chairs around the dining room table.

“I think it did. The man in the card made me drink from his whiskey bottle and I had to repeat the same words you spoke when you handed me the card. In thirst, we find strength.” Caleb looks over at the mason jar his dad has in his hand. He feels a gentle pull towards it.

Pa notices where Caleb’s eyes are focused. He lets out a sigh and hands over his jar. “I’m sorry to put that curse on you, son. I just think this is the only way for you to have a chance at a real card.”

Caleb takes a small swig and feels something from his card. Was that anger? Annoyance?

“I won’t talk to you often,” a new voice slithers its way into Caleb’s thoughts, “but I am a real card. A damn good one out here in the desert. I would be quick to correct your old man. You are both here because of me and my wickedness.”

Caleb hears the cowboy fade out of his mind. He laughs nervously at his dad. “Ah, this one hasn’t been so bad. The card just wants me to find a woman on the next car. I don’t think beggars can be choosers. Right, Pa?”

“The card will tell you what it wants. It will always want to be more powerful. Listen to the card’s advice, but make sure you keep yourself safe. Cards can be... selfish.”

Pa stands up from the table and begins loading his leather bag. “No sense in wasting anymore time around the farm. You’re already behind on finding that new card.” He puts the leather bag on his son’s shoulder. “I only have a few bucks saved up. When you get to town, look for a way to make money. This old gear isn’t going to help you for very long.” Caleb watches his dad cram a couple dollars into his new satchel.

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“People want a card, Caleb. Don’t go bragging about what you have to folk. Bounty hunters and card guilds are looking for easy prey. You will need to refill your whiskey when you get to town. It won’t hurt ya to hang around a saloon to see if some drunk talks more than he should.”

Caleb nods his head and straps his father’s gun belt around his waist. He notices small notches on the handle of the old pistol as he holsters it. “These notches are a little too uniform to be a mistake.” Caleb eyes his dad carefully as his thoughts start to run wild.

“Where did you get all this stuff, Pa?” Caleb slyly asks as he adjusts his leather pack. “Tooled leather bag and a pistol with marks down the handle? Kind of looks like you were more than a farmer.”

Pa scratches the back of his head and grins a little. “I wanted cards like the rest of the world. I did what I had to do to get one. Here is my last warning to you, do not join a card guild. They promise the moon and deliver nothing but famine. Blaze your own path out there. I fell into that trap, and it caused me nothing but pain. Your mother was lost to the greed of a guild, and I barely got the two of us out. You were meant to find cards, son. I just didn’t give you the best chance to do that.”

Caleb holds steady, the news catching him off guard. “So, mom didn’t run off with another man? She is out looking for cards?”

“Either that or she has passed on.” Pa sighs at the mention of his ex-wife. “Everything I have done has been to keep you safe, son. Please believe me when I tell you that. There is nothing worth losing you.”

There is a long pause between the two. Caleb breaks the silence by taking a swig from the mason jar. Pa’s eyes seem to be pleading for forgiveness.

“I’m going to find that card. I’m going to show you that your sacrifice meant something. That this family is something.” Caleb feels the whiskey coursing through his head, and he swells with pride.

Pa’s eyes fill up with tears and he slams a hug onto his son. “I love you, Caleb.”

Caleb pats his dad on the back and whispers, “I love you too, Pa.”

The two break their embrace and walk towards the door. Caleb checks to see if his revolver is loaded and spins the cylinder shut with an audible click. Satisfied, Caleb starts his march to Whispering Springs.

Pa yells out to Caleb when he passes the barn. “Don’t worry about me, son! I’ll make sure everything is nice when you get back.”

Caleb looks back and smiles. “In thirst, we find strength, Pa.